It’s really valuable for me to have accounting software that’s easy to use and designed for a small business like mine.

After her student artwork was snapped up by a window display designer, Lorna Syson realised she had a marketable product that she could use to start her own business. She acknowledges that being her own boss offers creative freedom, but comes with its own pressures too: “when the business is going well, everything’s going well. When something’s going wrong, I take it home with me. It’s always on my mind.”

Lorna uses Sage One online accounting software to help her keep track of her business.

The flexibility of being online suits the way she works as she explains: “when I start working with clients I can look back at their past orders, see when they’ve paid, and get a complete history, just by having my iPad there.”

As a sole trader, Lorna also appreciates the way Sage One makes it simple for her to get on with her job. “I save so much time not filling in my Excel sheets,” she explains, “and I don’t accidentally delete things if I press the wrong button. I’m finding I need a lot less training to use Sage One than to use Excel.”

Not having to spend hours poring over a spreadsheet enabled Lorna to spend time elsewhere in her business. “My business mentor once said to me that unless you make money and grow it is not a business, it is a hobby and that has always stayed with me.”

“It’s really valuable for me to have accounts software that’s easy to use and designed for a small business like mine.”

Sage One customer support team understand small businesses

Lorna also feels more confident knowing that there’s professional support available should she need it: “the Sage One customer support team are friendly. They’re nice, which is what I look for. They understand small businesses and they don’t talk down to you. They treat you how you would treat your own customers.”

Sage One help her business grow

Selected by The Telegraph (UK) as one of London’s brightest new designers, Lorna’s work has featured in a wide range of UK, Italian and German style magazines. Now she has ambitions to take her British business to international markets and grow her distinctive design talent into a recognisable brand.

She says that’s another area where Sage One will help her business grow: “working out the best places to invest, the best places to save money and how to organise everything. So when I bring people in, the processes are there for them to easily take on.”

Lorna Syson’s favourite features

Sage One helps this sole trader with the ambition to take off in international markets

Deal with customers

Lorna is able to easily keep track of her clients’ orders history

Sage Pay integration

Lorna’s online payments automatically reconcile within Sage One

Simple accounting

Sage One saves her precious time she used to spend entering data manually

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